Brooklyn's 'Republic Of Booza' Puts New Twist On Classic Ice Cream
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Brooklyn now boasts an ice cream parlor that's packed with booza.
The shop is the first of its kind in the United States.
But what's booza?
"We like saying that booza is like gelato on steroids," Republic of Booza Co-Founder Michael Sadler told CBS2's Vanessa Murdock.
The shop's co-founder said he first had the frozen treat 10 years ago in the old city of Demascus and thought it was the most incredible form of ice cream he'd ever tasted.
"Its principle distinction is a soft elasticity that ultimately makes it smoother, denser and creamier than other forms of ice cream," he said.
It's believed that booza came before any other ice cream on the planet.
"It was developed for the first time about 500 years ago in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, called the Levant," Sadler said.
Now, it's being crafted in Williamsburg.
"It's really cool, actually," said Roxanne Lu, a tourist from Taiwan.
"It's really nice," another woman added.
Booza begins as a liquid but quickly becomes solid when poured into a freezing drum. It isn't churned, but pounded with a three-foot wooden pestle instead.
"This works out all of the air to give you that super smooth, creamy consistency," Sadler said.
To perfect the dessert, one must alternate between pounding and stretching.
Despite its elastic appearance, connoisseurs say it's the smoothest, creamiest ice cream you've ever had.
Sadler said when he first tried booza, only one flavor was available. At Republic of Booza, nearly 20 flavors are being served up, including some classic, global and experimental flavors.
